Artists have conventionally utilized brushes and paint to create a work of art on a canvas. An artist has the freedom to choose a type and size of canvas, a type and size of brush, and types and colors of paint to create a work of art. Different canvases, brushes, and paints give the artist a great amount of freedom in generating the work of art.
As computers have become more popular and readily accessible, paint simulation programs have been created that are configured to simulate artistic painting on a computer. These simulation programs have traditionally not been particularly robust or realistic. For example, many paint simulation programs utilize two-dimensional stamps of a fixed shape and size, such as a circle or square. A user selects the stamp, selects the color, and then utilizes an input device (such as a mouse) to stamp the shape repeatedly on a computer screen in accordance with user input. It can be readily ascertained, however, that real-world paintbrushes have several degrees of freedom, such that the size and shape of the footprint of the paintbrush changes as the user handles the paintbrush.
Additionally, current paint simulation programs include techniques for simulating deposition of paint upon a three-dimensional model of a paintbrush to a canvas. Many conventional techniques assume that the paintbrush does not pick up any paint from the canvas and stamps over any existing paint. In real-world painting, however, a paintbrush will pick up some paint that is on the canvas, and smears will be created. Existing solutions for simulating this overlaying of paint have issues with sampling artifacts and tessellation, resulting in suboptimal simulation.